The Flora of the Oak-Wooded Drainages at the Timber Point Area, Southeastern Butler County, Nebraska

Authors

Steven B. Rolfsmeier, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Citation

Rolfsmeier, Steven B. Undated. The Flora of the Oak-Wooded Drainages at the Timber Point Area, Southeastern Butler County, Nebraska. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. 27 pp.

Abstract

The Timber Point Area is a 160-acre recreational/wildlife area occupying to S½ of the SW¼ sec. 22 and the adjacent N½ of the NW¼ sec. 27, T14N R4E. The area is located in the loess-mantled glacial-till hills of southeast Nebraska not far from the terminal moraine of the Pre-Illinoian glacial sheet, one mile south and two miles east of the present town of Brainard. The uplands at Timber Point were apparently in pasture prior to purchase by the NRD, with some cultivated fields occupying the lower ground along a stream valley which southwest to northeast through the property. This small stream, a tributary of Middle Oak Creek, was dammed after the property was acquired and a 29-acre lake created which at the time of this writing and a much-reduced surface acreage due to several years of drought in the late 1980’s. The lake covers much of the formerly cultivated land, with some apparent reseeding having taken place in abandoned upland fields nearby. Most of the remaining uplands have not been significantly altered since purchase, save for the effects of a few controlled burns. Three oak-wooded draws have been preserved on the south side of the lake, with two of these altered but slightly by the change in hydrology. These three draws contain the bulk of the native-flora left on the property.

This study concentrates primarily on the flora of a 12 acre drainage of oak woods and surrounding uplands on the south side of the center of the lake. A partial survey of the plant species the two other oak draws was also undertaken, primarily for comparison with the central drainage in terms of assessing the condition of its flora. These other areas include a low, weedy drainage just east of the south parking area, and a deep, well-preserved north-south ravine that parallels the east property boundary below the dam.